Navigating Your Finances

In a poll of 50 patients with head and neck cancer, 56 percent indicated that one of their most common concerns was their finances.1 Chaturvedi SK, Shenoy A, Prasad KM, Senthilnathan SM, Premlatha BS. Concerns, coping and quality of life in head and neck cancer patients. Support Care Cancer. 1996 May;4(3):186-90.

Maintaining health insurance coverage during an illness that interferes with one’s ability to work full time can be challenging. You may need to learn more about your particular type of insurance coverage and what steps you can take to maintain your insurance during your cancer journey.

Additionally, many people who have filed for bankruptcy attribute their financial crises to medical debt, even while being insured; out of those who were insured and became bankrupt, approximately 60 percent had private insurance, 8 percent had Medicaid and 6 percent had Medicare.2 Ward E, Halpern M, Schrag N, et al. Association of insurance with cancer care utilization and outcomes. CA Cancer J Clin. 2008 Jan-Feb;58(1):9-31.

There are some steps you can take to retain insurance during an illness and to deal with the additional expenses associated with treating a medical disorder.